After both offices warned last fall that budget constraints were straining their operations, the Baton Rouge Metro Council on Thursday approved additional funding for and public defender.
At the request of Mayor-President Sid Edwards’ administration, the council authorized $500,000 for and $850,000 for District Attorney Hillar Moore’s office on Wednesday.
Moore, who has spent more than a year pushing for additional funding, welcomed the increase but said it falls short of what his office needs and that he still plans to sue the city-parish seeking more money.
“We are extremely grateful to the Mayor, City Council and Finance Department for today’s additional funding allocation,†Moore said in a statement Wednesday evening. “While it represents only a small portion of what is needed to bring our Office’s operational capacity to a fully functional level, it does provide much-needed short-term relief.â€
The supplement for the two offices comes from a fund balance in the city-parish’s general fund, Edwards’ office said.
The DA’s adopted 2026 budget decreased by 9% — or about $774,000. The added funds make up for the shortfall, but are lower than what Moore says he needs to be on par with other prosecutors in the state. Moore asked for more than $22 million for his budget this year, but with Wednesday’s supplement, he is operating at about $8.3 million.
In his planned civil lawsuit, Moore has said he will argue that the city-parish is not following state law requiring parishes to meet “reasonable and necessary†funding requests from constitutional offices like his. Moore was unsuccessful in putting a property tax on voters’ ballots last year to fully fund his office.
“The failure of this tax, coupled with the denial of our original $22.6 million budget request for 2026, leaves me with few options other than to pursue judicial relief to compel the City-Parish to meet its legal obligation to adequately fund the District Attorney’s Office,†he said. “We must comply with our constitutional obligations to protect the public.â€
Chief Public Defender Kyla Romanach, left, speaks next to La. State Rep. C. Denise Marcelle, right, at a protest at Baton Rouge City Hall on Dec. 8, 2025.
BY PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER | Staff writer
Chief Public Defender Kyla Romanach also welcomed the budget supplement, which was cut by 10% this year. Edwards originally proposed a 22% cut for the public defender’s office, but the council amended the 2026 budget to add funds from their own budget.
“This isn't going to stop us from being underfunded, but this certainly puts us in a much, much better position to provide the services that are needed to keep the court system functioning and people's rights protected,†she said. “This is a very significant amount.â€
Romanach said a bill authored by State Rep. C. Denise Marcelle, D-Baton Rouge, could provide some help.
“It would make sure that there is a year-to-year local funding for the public defender here in East Baton Rouge Parish,†Romanach said.
The bill would make it state law for the city-parish to fund the public defender’s office.
The DA will use the funds for “modest†raises for his staff who have not gotten any for several years.
When Moore went out for his own property tax to fund his office last year — which only garnered 40% of the vote — whether the parish’s incorporated cities of Baker, Central, St. George and Zachary were paying their share to the constitutional offices made up of the DA, coroner, 19th judicial court and parish prison, as well as the public defender.
Those offices are funded by the city-parish general fund, which is almost entirely made up of a 2% sales tax collected in the city of Baton Rouge and unincorporated areas.
Baker, Central, St. George and Zachary keep the 2% sales tax collected in their area but none remit any to parishwide constitutional offices like Moore’s.
In 2022, years before incorporating, St. George leaders sketched out a first-year budget that included a $6.6 million annual contribution to these offices. The Committee for the Incorporation of St. George wrote in 2018 that the proposed city would fund 19.2% of the total expenses of constitutional and parishwide offices, according to court records.
But since St. George became a city in April 2024, none of the budgets it has adopted or amended have included any such funding.
Moore said he has informed the mayor and council about his plans to file a lawsuit, which he began discussing last budget season. At that time, the mayor said he would consider a court filing by Moore a “friendly lawsuit.â€
“This action is not something that I look forward to doing, however for the financial stability of our office and the protection of the public, I must consider doing so very soon,†Moore said.